"Our goal is simple. It is to minimize the waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars proactively, particularly since they will be spent quickly and at levels previously unheard of," said Lieberman, who chairs the committee.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law at a ceremony Tuesday in Denver, Colo. The stimulus package cleared Congress on Friday, with most

Lieberman helped to get the three moderate Republicans to vote in favor of the bill. Their help was needed to meet the 60-vote minimum required to break a filibuster.

Collins said she supported the stimulus package, in part because safeguards were included "to ensure aggressive oversight, transparency, and accountability of economic stimulus dollars."

The bill provides additional funds to the GAO and Inspectors General to oversee the stimulus spending. It also establishes a
Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board
to coordinate and conduct oversight and report results to Congress.

There will also be a new Web site,
www.recovery.gov
, where taxpayers can track spending, including disbursements at the state and local level.

Last month, Senate Democrats considered stripping Lieberman of his chairmanship as punishment for campaigning on behalf of Republican presidential candidate
John McCain
. The move was blocked in part because Obama opposed the sanction, preferring to keep Lieberman within the Democratic caucus.

"It is critical to ensure that systems are in place - ahead of time - to oversee this massive level of spending and that the public is provided with as much information as possible about where their money is going," Lieberman said.

Collins, who is the ranking Republican on the committee, joined Lieberman in calling for the hearing.

"It is critical that we work to turn this economy around and create and save jobs, but do so with transparency and accountability," she said.